Announcements, information & updates from the Attorney General Alliance Members and Associates
March 11, 2022
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The Attorney General Alliance is proud to announce our Spring Policy Conference!
This two-day event gathers leaders in business and government to examine the latest issues in data privacy, cybersecurity, and cryptocurrency.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta will co-host the event that will focus on new laws, novel threats, and emerging technologies. Please join us as we discuss the benefits and challenges that connect you with partners across the United States tackling the same issues.
If you are interested in joining us for the Spring Policy Conference please reach out to Ale Stephens at astephens@agalliance.org.
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The National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving (NASID) is a coalition established and led by Responsibility.org to eliminate all forms of impaired driving is hosting The Intersection of Cannabis Legalization and Road Safety – What’s Next for Impaired Driving?
As cannabis laws are rapidly changing across the United States, where does impaired driving fit into the discussion? Join the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving and a panel of experts as we examine the must-have policies and programs to prevent cannabis-impaired and multiple substance-impaired driving. Various resources including our new Cannabis DUI and Underage Consumption Laws State Map will be highlighted. The state map includes data and links to relevant laws in each state.
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
1:00 -2:00 PM EST
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The Attorneys General community has come together in educating consumers during National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW). This week they are taking the time to help people understand their consumer rights and avoid frauds and scams.
Click on the state seals to see their efforts this week.
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Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George announced a $3M settlement with the Terminix pest control company. The settlement stems from a 2017 lawsuit the Attorney General’s Office filed against Terminix after a family of four vacationing at the Sirenusa Resort on St. John in March 2015 became seriously ill when the unit below them was fumigated. The lawsuit alleged that Terminix violated Virgin Islands laws by unsafely and deceptively using methyl bromide in numerous residences across the Virgin Islands. Methyl bromide is a highly toxic pesticide banned for residential use. Terminix no longer operates in the Virgin Islands.
The Attorney General’s action against Terminix and the resulting settlement is separate from the charges the United States Government brought against Terminix and the resulting plea agreement relating to the 2015 poisoning incident at Sirenusa.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued the following statement after the San Diego Superior Court found in the state’s favor in its lawsuit against Ashford University, an online, for-profit school, and its parent company Zovio, Inc. (formerly Bridgepoint Education). In the decision, the San Diego Superior Court found that Ashford University and Zovio violated the law by giving students false or misleading information about career outcomes, cost and financial aid, pace of degree programs, and transfer credits, in order to persuade them to enroll at Ashford. As part of the decision, the court ordered Ashford University and Zovio to pay more than $22.37 million in penalties. |
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and the Federal Trade Commission secured court orders permanently banning the operators of an alleged credit-card-interest-rate-reduction scam from working in the debt-relief industry. The defendants allegedly engaged in abusive and deceptive practices violating the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act in selling credit-card-interest-rate-reduction services to consumers throughout the United States, including Florida seniors.
Under the terms of the agreements, the defendants are permanently banned from advertising or selling debt-relief products and services. The defendants are also prohibited from misrepresenting material facts in connection with any product or service. The orders also prohibit unsubstantiated claims and prohibited payment practices. The orders impose monetary judgments of more than $5.3 million.
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Attorney General Phil Weiser urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate Frontier Airlines concerning flight change policies and customer service practices in light of the recent announcement of a proposed merger between Frontier and Spirit Airlines.
Weiser previously urged the USDOT to investigate Frontier Airlines’ policies during the pandemic, and the Department of Law continues to receive complaints concerning Frontier on a range of customer service issues, including its failure to provide refunds or to promptly issue refunds to consumers when required by law.
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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced the office of the AG collected over $990 million in revenue for the state in 2021 through litigation and collection efforts.
The attorney general's office brought in $331 million through collections litigation, including cases involving the collection of funds for damage to state property, child support enforcement, fines and penalties, the attorney general said in a press release. The office also recovered $56 million from the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the nation, resolving allegations the company submitted inaccurate pharmaceutical reimbursements and improperly inflated dispensing fees.
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A coalition of 27 states filed a pleading in the Supreme Court of the United States to reverse a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that failed to uphold the constitutional rights of a high school coach who was punished for praying alone on a football field in view of students. The case is Joseph A. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.
This amicus brief was led by Arizona, Alaska, Florida, and Texas and was joined by Attorneys General from 23 additional states to include attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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Attorney General Rob Bonta, Governor Gavin Newsom, and the Air Resources Board (CARB) led a coalition of 23 attorneys general and six cities and counties, in filling a motion to intervene in defense of federal greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) standards for light-duty vehicles, as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalized more stringent GHG standards for model years 2023 to 2026 passenger cars and light trucks.
Attorney General Bonta, Governor Newsom, and CARB are joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the cities of Denver, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco and the counties of Denver and San Francisco.
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Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is leading a 14-state effort to provide transparency and have records related to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed last fall on behalf of Indiana and other states fulfilled. The requests seek federal officials’ communications preceding an Oct. 4 Department of Justice memo that called for FBI surveillance of parents expressing opinions at school board meetings and other forums. In the lawsuit, Attorney General Rokita asks a U.S. district court to compel the administration to respond to the requests for information. Besides the White House and U.S. Department of Justice, the lawsuit also names as defendants the U.S. Department of Education and its leader, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. |
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Alabama Attorney General Marshall and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch joined a bipartisan letter to The American Law Institute (ALI) to ask its members to again defer consideration of proposed revisions to Section 213 of the Model Penal Code (MPC) that would weaken the ability of States to prosecute sexual assault, abuse, and exploitation; human trafficking; and sex offender registration.
The 16 Attorneys General are concerned with the American Law Institute Council (ALI) approval a of draft of revisions for the Model Penal Code (MPC) related to laws on sexual assault, abuse, and exploitation; human trafficking; and sex offender registration.
Sex crimes are very real dangers in our communities. The letter states that the laws that we use to prosecute these crimes and protect victims of these crimes are not an academic exercise and they should be crafted to provide actual tools for doing justice. The full membership of the ALI will meet to vote on this revised draft in May, and the bipartisan letter urges those members have to correct what would be a giant step backward for the prosecution of these sex crimes and the defense of the dignity of the victims.
The letter was signed by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Hawaii Attorney General Holly Shikada, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
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Missed our live programs? No problem! Follow the button below to visit our Virtual Seminar Library for access to all recordings.
Do you have a webinar topic suggestion? We want to hear from you! Please email ideas to Patricia Salazar at PSalazar@AGAlliance.org.
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CWAG Executive Committee
AG Alliance Co-Chairs
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Attorney General Alliance 5050 | Laguna Blvd., Ste. 112-323 | Elk Grove, CA 95758
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